[[Image:Justice John McLean .jpg|thumb|right|200px]]The county was named for John McLean, a pioneer lawyer, Territorial judge, first Representative in Congress from Illinois (1818), and United States Senator (1824-1825).

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[[Image:Justice John McLean .jpg|thumb|right|200px|Justice John McLean .jpg]]The county was named for John McLean, a pioneer lawyer, Territorial judge, first Representative in Congress from Illinois (1818), and United States Senator (1824-1825).

[http://www.evergreen-cemetery.com/ Evergreen Cemetery] (Bloomington) is a 80 plus acre cemetery from the 1820's. It is the final resting place of some prominent MCLean County individuals, including Adlai Stevenson I, baseball player Charles "Ol Hoss" Radbourne, David Davis, Supreme Court Judge and friend of Abe Lincoln, and Dorothy Gage, the inspiration for the Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

[http://www.evergreen-cemetery.com/ Evergreen Cemetery] (Bloomington) is a 80 plus acre cemetery from the 1820's. It is the final resting place of some prominent MCLean County individuals, including Adlai Stevenson I, baseball player Charles "Ol Hoss" Radbourne, David Davis, Supreme Court Judge and friend of Abe Lincoln, and Dorothy Gage, the inspiration for the Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

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The cemetery caretakers have done a wonderful job with their website, and have over 26,000 burials recorded for on line searching. Each year, it is the host of the Evergreen Cemetery Walk, where actors in period clothing portray the life of some of the individuals in the cemetery, while standing at their grave site. This cemetery has won awards for its dedication to preserving history.&nbsp; <br>

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The cemetery caretakers have done a wonderful job with their website, and have over 26,000 burials recorded for online searching. Each year, it is the host of the Evergreen Cemetery Walk, where actors in period clothing portray the life of some of the individuals in the cemetery, while standing at their grave site. This cemetery has won awards for its dedication to preserving history.

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[http://www.billiongraves.com/pages/cemetery/cemetery.php?cemetery_id=125600 BillionGraves] has some data from this cemetery, which include headstone photos along with indexed data.

*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gs& Find A Grave] can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried.Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone. May give obituaries,names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.

*[http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gs& Find A Grave] can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried.Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone. May give obituaries,names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.

*The [http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHLC/frameset_fhlc.asp Family History Library Catalog] lists {{FHL|352833|subject-id|disp=some&nbsp;records of&nbsp;cemeteries in&nbsp;McLean County}}.&nbsp; Some of the books or others may be on [http://books.google.com/advanced_book_search Google Books] or available at public libraries.

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*The [https://www.familysearch.org/#form=catalog Family History Library Catalog] lists {{FHL|352833|subject-id|disp=some&nbsp;records of&nbsp;cemeteries in&nbsp;McLean County}}.&nbsp; Some of the books or others may be on [http://books.google.com/advanced_book_search Google Books] or available at public libraries.

*[http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/localList.php?local=6417&locTGroup=Cemeteries&direction=down&sec=0&qty=89&stateAbbv=&stateName= ePodunk&nbsp;list of&nbsp;McLean County cemeteries] gives the names of the cemeteries in the county with a link to more information such as address, phone number, and web site.

*[http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/localList.php?local=6417&locTGroup=Cemeteries&direction=down&sec=0&qty=89&stateAbbv=&stateName= ePodunk&nbsp;list of&nbsp;McLean County cemeteries] gives the names of the cemeteries in the county with a link to more information such as address, phone number, and web site.

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[http://www.billiongraves.com BillionGraves] is a site where people take photos using a smartphone and upload them using the app the site provides, and others transcribe them. Some McLean County area cemeteries have been visited and had photos taken for the BillionGraves site.

E. Duis, [http://books.google.com/books?id=GY8UAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Good+Old+Times+in+McLean+County&hl=en&ei=tkT5Tae9Nenb0QH287nfAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false ''The Good Old Times in McLean County'']. Bloomington: (Publishers name not given), 1874. Digital version at Google Books. The book contains biographies of the early settlers of McLean County.

E. Duis, [http://books.google.com/books?id=GY8UAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Good+Old+Times+in+McLean+County&hl=en&ei=tkT5Tae9Nenb0QH287nfAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false ''The Good Old Times in McLean County'']. Bloomington: (Publishers name not given), 1874. Digital version at Google Books. The book contains biographies of the early settlers of McLean County.

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A variety of early McLean County genealogical records are transcribed in:<br>

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A variety of early McLean County genealogical records are transcribed in:<br>

*''McLean County, White County, Will County Genealogical Records''. Evanston, Ill.?: Illinois Society, D.A.R.?, 1945?. Digital version at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=27154 Ancestry] ($).

*''McLean County, White County, Will County Genealogical Records''. Evanston, Ill.?: Illinois Society, D.A.R.?, 1945?. Digital version at [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=27154 Ancestry] ($).

Line 250:

Line 260:

'''1909-1926''' Coal Mine Maps - IRAD-ISU

'''1909-1926''' Coal Mine Maps - IRAD-ISU

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=== Maps ===

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=== Maps ===

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[[Image:Ilmclean.jpg|400px|right]]

=== Military Records ===

=== Military Records ===

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==== '''War of 1812''' ====

==== '''War of 1812''' ====

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Custer, Milo ''Soldiers of the Revolution and the War of 1812 buried in McLean County, Illinois'' (bloomington, Illinois Bloomington Norman Genealogical Society, 1969) pages 25&nbsp; [https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/show?uri=http%3A%2F%2Fcatalog-search-api%3A8080%2Fwww-catalogapi-webservice%2Fitem%2F276280 FHL Book 977.359 V22]<br>

[http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/mclean/military/warof1812/other/somemili666gmt.txt Military Land Grants McLean County ]Illinois for Soldiers of the War of 1812 - USGenWeb

[http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/mclean/military/warof1812/other/somemili666gmt.txt Military Land Grants McLean County ]Illinois for Soldiers of the War of 1812 - USGenWeb

McLean County Organization

County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for McLean County are kept, see the McLean County Courthouse page.

Historical Facts

Justice John McLean .jpg

The county was named for John McLean, a pioneer lawyer, Territorial judge, first Representative in Congress from Illinois (1818), and United States Senator (1824-1825).

Parent County

1830--McLean County was created 25 December 1830 from Tazewell County and unorganized territory.

Record Loss

The Bloomington Fire

A Loss of $2,000,000, Covering Five Blocks of Houses and Including the Courthouse.

Bloomington, Ill., June 19.-Fire early this morning swept the business section of the city, burning between forty and fifty business houses and entailing a loss of $2,000,000. Word was sent to Peoria and Springfield to send fire engines. As every effort to check progress of the flames proved futile, the blowing up of buildings with dynamite was resorted to after the fire had been raging for three hours and a half. A strong east wind prevailed, which made the work of the firemen extremely difficult.

Among the buildings destroyed and some of the losses are the following:

..., and the courthouse.

Two firemen are missing and are probably in the ruins. The burned district covers an area of five blocks.

The insurance is approximately $800,000.

Dallas Morning News, Dallas, TX 20 Jun 1900

A Terrible Fire

Half the Business Portion of Bloomington, Ills., Wiped Out by Fire

Courthouse Hotels and Dozens on the City's Finest Buildings Destroyed.

Total Loss Variously Estimated at Between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000

Bloomington, Ills., June 20.-A fire which broke out at 12:30 a.m. wiped out nearly one-half of the business portion of Bloomington, .... Two sides of the courthouse square are in ruins. The north and the east and the other two blocks cornering on the square and one-half of the block west of the square are also destroyed. The courthouse, which is standing, is gutted from dome to basement. As far as known no lives were lost or anyone seriously injured.

The fire broke out in the Model laundry on Monroe Street, in the block northeast of the courthouse. The flames soon got beyond control and spread to the 4-story brick structure belonging to the B.S. Green company.

Government Building Escapes

In an hour the entire block was destroyed excepting the government building in which is located the post office and which escaped unharmed.

... . .with the entire block lying east of the courthouse was destroyed. The courthouse caught from Griesheim building and burned slowly, the clock in the dome running until it struck 4.

The Bloomington, Peoria and Springfield fire departments arrived about 6 a.m., and aided the local firemen in getting the fire burning in a westerly direction under control. In all 40 to 50 business houses were destroyed.

Records and Resources

Biography

The Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois has a McLean County edition. This includes a state history section along with a county history and biographies of McLean County residents. See the wiki article for links to available copies and indexes.

Cemeteries

Cemetery records often identify birth, death, relationship, and military information, as well as religious affiliation.

Evergreen Cemetery (Bloomington) is a 80 plus acre cemetery from the 1820's. It is the final resting place of some prominent MCLean County individuals, including Adlai Stevenson I, baseball player Charles "Ol Hoss" Radbourne, David Davis, Supreme Court Judge and friend of Abe Lincoln, and Dorothy Gage, the inspiration for the Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.

The cemetery caretakers have done a wonderful job with their website, and have over 26,000 burials recorded for online searching. Each year, it is the host of the Evergreen Cemetery Walk, where actors in period clothing portray the life of some of the individuals in the cemetery, while standing at their grave site. This cemetery has won awards for its dedication to preserving history.

BillionGraves has some data from this cemetery, which include headstone photos along with indexed data.

Find A Grave can be searched by the name of a person or family to find where a person is buried.Usually gives birth and death dates often with a picture of the tombstone. May give obituaries,names of family members and links to their information in Find A Grave.

BillionGraves is a site where people take photos using a smartphone and upload them using the app the site provides, and others transcribe them. Some McLean County area cemeteries have been visited and had photos taken for the BillionGraves site.

1840 Pensioners

A Census of Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military Services: With their Names, Ages, and Places of Residence, as Returned by the Marshalls of the Several Judicial Districts, Under the Act for Taking the Sixth Census. Washington, D.C., 1841. FHL 973 X2pc 1840; FHL 2321; digital version at Google Books. [See Illinois, McLean County on page 187.]

Church Records

LDS Ward and Branch Records

Cemetery, Church and Family Records of Illinois. by Daughters of the American Revolution. FHL Collection item 5

The Circuit Clerk's office has an on line database of immigration records which was done with the assistance of the McLean County Genealogical Society.

The court has one of the more extensive collections of original court records in the state.

The county policies for birth and death records are posted, and copies can be paid for on line, or by mail. On location: the the county clerk has a public index card file of births and deaths. Request for marriage application form on older marriages must be separately.

Blackhawk War

Civil War

Civil War service men from McLean County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies or regiments that were formed from men of McLean County.

Repositories

IRAD is a system of Illinois Regional Archives Depositories managed by the Illinois State Archives, housing the archival records of local Illinois counties, townships, municipalities and school districts. The seven Regional Depositories are housed on state university campuses scattered throughout Illinois. Illinois State University houses the records for McLean County.

County Courthouse

County records are most often kept at the County Courthouse or another local repository. For further information about where the records for McLean County are kept, see the McLean County Courthouse page.

Family History Centers

Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah (United States) and are located all over the world. Their goal is to provide resources to assist you in the research and study of your genealogy. Currently there are no Family History Centers located directly in McLean County.

You may search your address for a center near you on the FamilySearch site. The following centers are located in surrounding counties. Their wiki pages may supply hours and other information.

Their records exist in either paper or microfilm form, the collection is a gold mine. They have saved obituaries from newspapers, extensive cemetery records and have some microfilm of marriage records, etc. from official sources. The staff is friendly and knowledgable.